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To Fred L. Shuttlesworth the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

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To Fred L. Shuttlesworth the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project tions 4(in) their world wide aspects, and was instrumental in getting Finletter 4 Apr to propose this in his commencement address at Hampton Institute several years 1960 ago. Greenfield's number and address is as follows in case you want to get in touch with him directly; Edward L. Greenfield Edward L. Greenfield & Co. 501 Madison Avenue N.Y. 22, N.Y. Phone: PLaza 9-6535 Forgive the sharp criticism in this note at a moment when something big has happened, but I trust that you expect from me a full and honest reaction. Thanks for calling me from Chicago the other day. It was great hearing your voice. These are historic days in the South, and I have confidence that the cre- ative role you are playing is just beginning. Love to Coretta. As ever, [signed] Harris Harris Wofford Associate Professor HW:mh TALS. MLW-MBU: BOX74, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project To Fred L. Shuttlesworth 4 April 1960 [Atlanta, Gu.] Afer Shutthorth's second arrest during the stua!ent sit-ins in Birmingham, King pledges SCLCS support and praises the minister? "@ic making career.'" REV FRED SHUTTLESWORTH 3191 NORTH 29~~AVE HAVE JUST LEARNED OF YOUR RECENT ARREST ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES BY CITY OFFICIALS OF BIRMINGHAM YOU HAVE THE ABSOLUTE SUPPORT OF THE I. On 3 I March, the first day of a student sit-in campaign that resulted in ten arrests, Birmingham police also arrested Shuttleworth for giving false information regarding an alleged incident of police brutality. Two days later he was arrested for vagrancy as well as aiding and abetting civil disobedience. Shuttleworth was found guilty on both charges on 4 April; his conviction was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1963 (Shuttleswurth u. City ojBirmingham, 373 U.S. 262; "Shuttleworth Charged with False Information," Birmingham Wwld, 6 April 1960; and "Youths Given $100 Fines and 180 Days in 405 Jail Each," Birmingham WwU, 6 April 1960; see also Shuttleworth to William P. Rogers, 4 April 1960). 5 Apr SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP [strikeout ilkgxbk] CONFERENCE AS YOU FACE 1960 THIS HOUR.‘ WE ARE ALWAYS INSPIRED BY YOUR COURAGEOUS WIT- NESS, AND YOUR WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER IN THIS RIGHTEOUS CAUSE. YOU’ VE TRANSFORMED THE JAIL FROM A DUNGEON OF SHAME INTO A HAVEN OF FREE- DOM AND A BADGE OF HONOR. I KNOW THAT YOU WILL FACE THIS SITUATION WITH THE SAME COURAGE THAT HAS ALWAYS GUIDED YOUR EPIC MAKING CA- REER CONTINUE YOUR GREAT WORK WITH THE CONVICTION 8f THAT UN- EARNED SUFFERING IS REDEMPTION (GIVEN BY MRS [Maude] BALLOU) MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PWc. MLW-MBU: Box 72. 2. A week after this telegram was sent, King and SCLC associatesJoseph Lowery, Kelly Miller Smith, C. K. Steele, and Ralph Abernathy wrote Attorney General William P. Rogers urging an immediate in- vestigation of Shuttlesworth’s arrests: “Regard for legal rights of Negroes have sunken to a new low even for Birmingham when a full time pastor of a church can be jailed held incommunicado for hours and charged with vagrancy to prevent him from securing early bail” (King et al. to Rogers, I I April 1960). Acting Assistant Attorney General Joseph Ryan replied on 25 April and maintained that the situation “is presently receiving this Department’s careful attention.” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project To Mary Fair Burks 5 April 1960 [Atlanta, Ca.] Underpessurefiom state oficials, Alabama State College president and Dexter deacon H. Council1 Trenholm announced on z 6 March that he would purge the college of “dis- loyal faculty members” who had supported the studat protests.’ Among those targeted were Lawrence D. Reddick, head of the history department, and English teachers and MIA stalwarts Mary Fair Burks and Jo Ann Robinson.2 On 3 I March, Burks wrote King and requested his assistance in finding work fw the fall. In this reply, King 1. “Trenholm Plans Purge of ‘Disloyal’ Faculty,” Montgomery Aduertisq 27 March 1960. 2. Burks and Robinson resigned at the close of the spring semester; Reddick was fired in June (see King to Patrick Murphy Malin, Roy Wilkins, and Carl J. Megel, 16 June 1960,pp. 47 1-472 in this vol- ume, and MIA, “Repercussions at Alabama State College,”Neusletto;z 1 September 1960).Mary Frances Fair Burks (lg14-iggi),born in Montgomery, received a B.A. (1933) from Alabama State College, an M.A. (1934)from the University of Michigan, and an Ed.D. (1975)from Columbia University. Fol- lowing an automobile accident in 1946,Burkswas struck by a policeman and arrested on false charges. This incident led her to become the founding president of the Women’s Political Council, the or- ganization that later initiated the Montgomery bus protest. In the late 1940s Burks became chair of the English department at Alabama State College and served in that capacity until her resignation in 406 1960. She then taught at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore from 1960 until 1986. .
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